California Extends State-Paid Travel Ban to 8 States

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — California’s attorney general on Thursday called out Texas and other Southern states for “prejudicial laws” that codify gender discrimination, and extended the bar on state-sponsored travel to eight states.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra prohibited lawmakers and state employees from using taxpayer money to travel to Texas, North Carolina and Tennessee. Already barred was state-sponsored travel to Mississippi, Alabama, South Dakota, Kentucky and Kansas, because of those states’ “discriminatory legislation.”

“Our country has made great strides in dismantling prejudicial laws that have deprived too many of our fellow Americans of their precious rights,” Becerra said in a statement. “Sadly, that is not the case in all parts of our nation, even in the 21st century.”

Assembly Bill 1887 prevents state agencies, including university sports teams, from traveling to states banned for LGBT discrimination.

Becerra said California sets the example for workers’ rights and that the nation’s most populous state will stand firm against intolerant outsiders.

“While the California Department of Justice works to protect the rights of all our people, discriminatory laws in any part of our country send all of us several steps back. That’s why when California said we would not tolerate discrimination against LGBTQ members of our community, we meant it,” Becerra said.

California’s law enforcement officials take issue with North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” and other states’ laws that prohibit gay families from adopting.

The ACLU organizing director for Northern California, Ashley Morris, said she and the ACLU were “proud to stand with our partners and Attorney General Becerra and do our part to make freedom and justice a reality for every American – regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”